Principal Pipelines: A Major Strategy to Improve Student Achievement Districtwide

1. Principal Pipelines: A Major Strategy to Improve Student Achievement Districtwide April 8, 2019

2. Districts in the Principal Pipeline Initiative

3. Our research partners in thePrincipal Pipeline initiative

4. Join the conversation To ask a question, click the chat box in upper right corner Then type a question here wallacefoundation.org/principalpipeline #PrincipalPipeline

5. Principals matter for student learning • Principals are “second only to classroom instruction among all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn at school.” -- How Leadership Influences Student Learning, Kenneth Leithwood, et al, University of Minnesota, University of Toronto, 2004 • “Principals are multipliers of effective teaching.” -- Developing Excellent School Principals to Advance Teaching and Learning: Considerations for State Policy, Paul Manna, The Wallace Foundation, 2015

6. Principals are criticalto improving struggling schools • “…there are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without intervention by a powerful leader. Many other factors may contribute to such turnarounds, but leadership is the catalyst.” -- How Leadership Influences Student Learning, Kenneth Leithwood, et al, University of Minnesota, University of Toronto, 2004

7. Teacher turnover is lower in schools with effective principals • “Teacher turnover is lower in schools led by high-quality principals…. -- School Leadership Interventions Under the Every Student Succeeds Act: Evidence Review, Rebecca Herman, et al, RAND, 2016 • “Principal effectiveness is associated with greater teacher satisfaction and a lower probability that the teacher leaves the school within a year. Moreover, the positive impacts of principal effectiveness on these teacher outcomes are even greater in disadvantaged schools.” -- Can Good Principals Keep Teachers in Disadvantaged Schools? Linking Principal Effectiveness to Teacher Satisfaction and Turnover in Hard-to-Staff Environments, Jason A. Grissom, Teachers College Record, 2011

8. New standards for principals • The Professional Standards for Educational Leaders are an updated set of standards for the job that spell out 10 essentials, including the ability to support rigorous instruction.​​ • New standards for principals reflect this new research and a new understanding of the role.

9. The Principal Pipeline Initiative • What we knew in 2011 • What makes for an effective principal • Better ways to train them • What we did not know • How large districts could cultivate a sufficient number of effective principals • If doing so would affect student achievement • The research suggested four components • Leader standards • Pre-service preparation • Selective hiring and placement • Evaluation and support

10. The question If all these components were put in place in ways that made sense for the local context, along with the appropriate system supports, would it move the needle for children, especially for the least advantaged ones, at the scale of an entire large district?

11. Principal Pipelines: A feasible, affordable, and effective way for districts to improve schools Susan M. Gates • April 8, 2019 11

12. Pipelines are feasible • It is feasible to implement all components of a principal pipeline at scale in large districts 12

13. At the start, no district had all four components in place Status of Pipeline Components by District as of 2010-11 School Year 14

14. At the end, all districts had all components in place or partially in place Status of Pipeline Components by District as of 2016-17 School Year 14

15. Pipelines are affordable • The six districts spent less than ½ percent of their budgets to operate and enhance their pipelines • The cost per student, per year was about $42 15

16. Pipelines are effective • They benefited districts, schools and students 16

17. To look at effectiveness we compared changes in outcomes in pipeline and non-pipeline schools • 1,100 pipeline schools that got a new principal during the study time frame • 6,300 matched non-pipeline schools in other districts in the state that received new principals the same year • A positive effect means the change in outcomes was more favorable in pipeline schools than comparison schools • Larger growth or smaller declines in achievement 17

18. Schools in pipeline districts with a new principal outperformed comparison schools 18

19. These effects on achievement are statistically significant, meaningful, widespread and unusual • We found statistically significant, positive effects on student achievement • For the six districts taken together • In schools serving different grade levels • For the earliest cohorts of pipeline schools, showing benefits kicked in early • For schools in the lowest achievement quartile • We have not found any other comprehensive, districtwide intervention for which there is evidence of positive effects on student achievement of this magnitude 19

20. We also find effects on principal retention • Principal turnover is costly for districts and disruptive for schools • For every 100 new principals, pipeline districts saw nearly 6 fewer losses after two years and nearly 8 fewer losses after three years, compared with other districts in the state staffing similar schools 20

21. A suite of research reports documents methods, limitations and findings in detail 21

22. The entire suite of reports from the study is available at: wallacefoundation.org/principalpipeline 22

23. Our panelists Sonja Brookins Santelises, CEO, Baltimore City Public Schools, moderator Richard Carranza, chancellor, NYC Department of Education Jeff Eakins, superintendent, Hillsborough County Public Schools, Florida Monica Goldson, interim CEO, Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland Alvin Wilbanks, CEO and superintendent, Gwinnett County Public Schools, Georgia

25. Leadership an emerging priority for states “School leadership stands out as an emerging priority for SEAs.” • Based on responses from 39 states • Sixty-nine percent of these state education agencies are using school leadership as a major strategy to improve the highest-needs schools

26. What states are focusing on 80 percent of states on sitting principals 20 percent on preparing principals

27. Principal pipelines arefeasible, affordable and effective New evidence finds principal pipelines are a strategy for districtwide school improvement, particularly for the schools in the lowest quartile of achievement

28. Principal pipelines are eligible for Title I funding Independent assessment by Abt Associates shows that principal pipelines are eligible for Title I funding under the evidence requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act

29. Implications for the field • The evidence suggests that principal pipelines deserve serious consideration: • Large Districts – can adapt them to their local context and tap Title I funds • Universities – can partner with districts in these efforts • States – can create policies that enable pipelines to be built

30. Questions?

31. The entire suite of reports on principal pipelines is available at… wallacefoundation.org/principalpipeline